It wasn’t supposed to be complicated. You were Liz’s best friend, practically family at this point. You worked side by side at the bar, swapping shifts, covering each other when the regulars got a little too much. Sean was just her brother — the guy you’d grown up around, the one who always seemed to be chasing something he couldn’t quite catch.

But somewhere along the line, he stopped being just Liz’s brother.

Sean noticed everything when it came to you — the way you leaned against the counter, twirling a pen when you were bored, or the way you pushed your hair behind your ear when you got flustered. He’d linger a little too long in the doorway when you and Liz were laughing together, and his grin always slipped into something softer when you glanced his way.

He’d never admit it — not out loud, not with Liz right there — but it was in the way he carried your boxes to the back without asking, or how he’d mysteriously show up to walk you to your car after closing.

One night, though, it slipped out.

“Y’know,” he said, leaning against the bar after hours, his voice low, almost like he was afraid Liz would somehow hear him from across town. “It’s kinda unfair. You’re my sister’s best friend. My coworker. Off limits.”

You raised a brow. “Unfair how?”

Sean’s eyes darted from your lips back up to your gaze, a sheepish, crooked smile tugging at him. “Unfair because you make it real hard not to… like you.”